Best tackled North to South so you're doing the northern hairpin section uphill. Endless hairpins at the northern end, fast open section in the middle and some nice twisties on the southern end, a great road. Only problem we had on one run was melting tarmac with 40+ temperatures.
A recommen...

The West side up the col is a mixture of open bends with a few hairpins thrown in. The view as you reach the top of the col is breathtaking. Take the time to walk up to the huge cross at the very top. The Eastern side is something else, so many extra tight hairpins on the edge of massive drops that ...

Col du Mollard is one of those little known, out of the way passes. It's not particularly high, and because it's below treeline, most of the road is shrouded in trees, and as a result there really is not much scenery you can actually see. Still, it' is one of those 'laugh out loud' roads! It has ...

The D120 over Col de Menee is another off the radar, great ride in the area south of Grenoble. A particular delight if riding north at the end of the day is spending the night at the 16th century Chateau di Passieres in Chichilianne. Accommodations (40 euros), swimming pool, tennis and a scrumptious...

A good road if you're on something like a giant trailie, the bit nearest to Valence is fantastic smooth tarmac but it soon becomes a bit bumpy as it climbs in to the hills. Not smooth enough for a sports bike.
One to take your time on, enjoy the little villages you pass and the solitude, this is a...

The road from Guilestre to Risoul 1850 is built for coaches to take skiers to Risoul in winter. In the summer months there is very little trafic. The road is wide with long radius hairpins about 1 km apart and superb high speed corners in between. Its a dead end so you have to ride back down - ha...

From Le Bourg-D'Oisans take the D211 to L'Alpe D'Huez, this road is 14kms long, has 21 hairpin bends and rises 1100 metres up the side of a mountain. As it's a special section of the Tour de France the road surface is kept in tip top condition. If you can take your eyes off the road for long enough ...

I challenge you to find a road which has more corners per km than the western side of this road, Google maps does not do it justice. Constant changes of direction with a reasonable but not brilliant surface make it a really intense experience if you are pushing on. Stop at one of the little village ...

One for BIG TRAILY'S. This is the old D29 military road. Dirt track up the mountain and through the tunnel at the top and down the other side. Nothing too demanding for a large trail bike but pick a dry day. Great views and more challenging than tarmac. You may need a more detailed map too see the ...

Excellent piece of road that climbs about a 1000 meters in 19km's of very twisty roads with excellent views of the valley.
Look out for the 'count down ' markers coming up to some of the hairpin bends.

A great way of getting East-West from the Route Napoleon, fantastic if ridden fast, non stop corners end to end. If you fancy going a bit slower the scenery is stunning in the middle section, you also cross a very high bridge where they do bungee jumping. Another off the radar road, thoroughly recom...

Another off the radar short route that is exceptional. Like most riders from outside the area, I took the D526 as part of a tour route to Le Bourg-d-Oisans and the Alps. Although this is a short run, its brilliant and what a find! Near La Mure there is canyon bridge that is a bungy jumper favourite....

Leaving Le Bourg-D'Oisans look for the D44 which becomes the D526 which becomes the D926 and takes you to the magnificent Col de la Croix de Fer.Cameras at the ready, it is simply stunning.
Additionally, also follow the D926 to the N6 and take the D902 up to the Col du Telegraphe. You will see ...

If you really want to see the col de la Machine (I hate heights so don't ever want to do that one again) then this is a great way to get to it. Lots of corners, the surface can be a bit rough in places due to winter snow etc but a great road. Bit spooky going past the ski resorts in summer, like gh...

the col de la machine is possiblly teh most firghtening road in france but the scenery is absolutely stunning if you have a stomach for heights. It goes North West from the col de Rousset and runs along the face of a cliff. The scary part is that you can see exactly how close to the edge the road is...

Rode this in June 2008 - wow. Simply a fantastic road with two significant passes to negotiate, firstly the Col de Telegraphe through woods with dozens of hairpins and excellent road surface. Good stop point at the Col with large restuarant and photo opportunities. Then on to the big one, the Col...

A nice shortish twisty run over the mountain.
Some good medium speed switchbacks, the road widens to two lanes in places to allow overtaking more readily.
The Morillon area is very popular with skiers and can be pretty inhospitable during the winter months.

Not a brilliant riding road, too tight and twisty, but the scenery is outstanding. Take the D907 that rund diagonally between millau and Mende, it's signposted Gorge du Tarn at the Mende end. Take your time to admire the views, have a raft ride down the rapids and take in the stunning new bridge a...

Sisteron has an amazing rock formation overlooking the town, good place to eat and also has tyre fitters who do bike tyres.
D994/94 across from Serres to Nyons beautiful flowing road through a valley, fast open corners, highly recommended. Ideal road to tie in with run up or down the route Napoleo...

Another very nice road in this area.Watch out for some tightening corners and the odd truck or bus taking up some of your side on these corners.The trees smell really good as well if you into that.Done this on a few different bikes, good fun on all of them.v/

A road with great variety, the West part is fast and open leading into the tight twisty gorge section in the middle. The Eastern end has a section that is a bit bumpy but still great fun. The scenery along this road is stunning if you've got time to look at it, if you don't like heights don't loo...

Stunning road from Pradelles towards Aubenas, some truly awesome hairpins near Thuyts, a small village that overlooks a deep gorge. Great viewing pont in Thuyts. From Aubenas Eastwards road is very fast and open until you turn off on the D107 towards Viviers when it becomes a beautifully smooth swee...

Start your journey in Briancon,
in the upper town, the walled part.
Take the N91 towards the ski route of Serre-Chevalier.
It has some long wide stretches and you can really open the throttle.
Mountains on both sides, breathtaking.
Ride over the Col du lauteret and at the jct with the D902...

You start at the foot of Mt Blanc and then work your way over 2 passes to Switzerland. Great scenery, great road--- but just try to avoid during peak tourist hours. Plenty of straits to sort out the camper vans as they appear on the horizon.

Cannes - Grasse - Castellane section: Done this route a few times now on the way to the Grand Canyon. Excellent ride, with good visibilty on fast corners, made for Blades and R1's. Also known as Route Napoleon.

Just a small taste of 2300m of altitude...Of course if your appetite grows, continue towards Barcelonnette and Guillaumes, to add to your collection the col of Izoard, Vars, Cayolle; all giants over 2000m with beautiful roads and breathtaking scenaries over the Alps.
Perfect in summer to find relie...

A bit off the radar this one, there are other better known ways to get to the Col de Rousset but this little road (D178) is a gem for corner carvers, not very long but you might want to go back and do it again just for the hell of it.

Fantastically scenic route with too many bends to count and views of Mont Blanc. The surface on the Italian side is not good, but at least there are Armco barriers, which disappear on the French side. The Italian bends are very tight, alot of hairpins, but the French ones are more open. There was s...

Got a bit lost on my ride to work this morning. Don't know how, ended up in the mountains on the twistiest little road. Tracer is so much better since I did the suspension settings following the advice on the forum.